


You Heard My Heart

by crystalblinks (orphan_account)



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Deaf Blaine, F/M, Genderfluid Character, Klaine, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Nightmares, Other, QPOC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-01 09:05:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6512056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/crystalblinks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“We’re asking you to save the world.” </p><p>Blaine Anderson currently resides at the McKinley school for the gifted, harnessing his powers and just trying to get through high school when an offer from his teacher flips his world on it's head.</p><p>Title from Harveston Lake by Johnny Rain</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Restart

Dust and sunlight filtered through the cracks in the old wooden shed, causing him to cough every few minutes as he clawed away at the rope keeping him tied to the cold steel chair. His fingers were bloody, bloodier than the rest of him. If he’d been keeping count correctly, he’d been in the room for sixteen days but he wasn’t sure of anything at the moment. He closed his eyes, hoping for something other than nightmares to plague his sleep.

 

_ Five Months Earlier _

 

The sparring room was painted a sleek silver and covered in every kind of weaponry imaginable, it was always ten degrees colder than room temperature and was always being used. I’m surprised we even gotten the room for the time we did, regular fights always broke out over the room’s availability. Last week Finn pulled out a handful of some girl’s hair trying to get the spot after lunch. A sharp kick brought me back from the memory of how he tried to put it back in her head after it happened.

 

“Come on B, I need to practice this before class starts.” Jo signed to me, their light hazel eyes bright with their usual fire. I regarded them with an apologetic smile before turning to face them. Their long black hair was streaked blue, pressed and hanging at their shoulders, the color of mahogany wood. They never fought in their uniform, always in baggy sweatpants a tank top, unlike everyone else in the school who wore that standard issue spandex. Everyone said they were odd, but it was just jealous, they’re the best fighter in the school and never let anyone see them sweat.

 

They took a deep breath before starting their attack, they quickly teleported behind me, catching me by surprise with a sharp jab to my lower back. Even though they’d used this particular technique  many times when we practiced for our combat classes, I’ve never gotten used to it. I released a stream of fire in their direction. My palms were warm, and I could feel the heat shifting just beneath the skin. I wasn’t fighting with my full powers, even when sparring with someone as resilient as Jo, they could still get burned. They quickly jumped out of the way and teleported onto my back. Their arms wound tightly around my neck. I let the fire spread through my body, causing them to jump off of me at the heat radiating from my body. A wild smirk appeared on their face before they teleported across the room. Despite my instincts I ran towards them only for them to come out of nowhere and end up on my back, before I could heat up they flipped me face first on the floor, with their hands wound around my wrists and their knee in my lower back.

 

“B, it usually takes me so much longer to beat you.” Even Jo’s signs came with a hint of self satisfaction. They were smiling brightly as they helped me up of the hard floors. It was like deja vu of the many times they’d pulled me up after one of our training sessions. We’ve  been fighting together since I first came to McKinley in the eighth grade after the Sadie Hawkins dance where I was attacked and subsequently found out that I’m a living forest fire. They were the only person in the entire school who was fluent in ASL and was just as in need of friends as I was. 

 

“Let’s go, I don’t want to get yelled at by Sylvester again.” Jo wrapped their arms around my waist and quickly teleported us out of the training room and just around the corner from the third year combat classroom. Jo had just figured out that they could teleport other people with them and didn’t want anyone knowing about that particular power. It was understandable, the school knows so much about us, and even the smallest secrets are cherished. We rounded the corner and sped into the classroom just before Professor Sylvester entered. 

 

I can’t hear, but the woman’s presence spoke volumes. She had super strength and was one of the best combat instructors in the world. She only taught a few classes at McKinley when she wasn’t making decisions on the school board, and those classes only included the best fighters the school had to offer. Jo trained extensively with the woman outside of class and was on their way to becoming as good, if not better than Sue Sylvester.

 

“Anderson, Khumalo, Puckerman. Curly wants to see you three in his office.” Sue shouted, Jo signed her words for me, because reading Sue Sylvester's lips was like trying to catch up with a car going 1,000 miles a minute. We walked out of the classroom alongside Puck. As we walked towards Professor Schuster's office he began whining about how he didn’t want to miss the new techniques we were supposed to be learning, and while Puck thought Jo was translating for me, despite the fact that I could read his lips easily, they were actually telling me how much they wanted to shove their fists down his throat. 

 

We passed Emma, Professor Schuster’s secretary who waved hello and pointed us in the direction of the conference rooms that lined the great hall. Couplings of other students were headed in the same direction that we were, including Finn and Sam who were in my Villain Psychology elective. They never did much but sleep or eat in that class and probably only took it so they could graduate. 

 

As we entered the room I could already tell that this wasn’t a meeting to congratulate us for some kind of achievement. Professor Schuster’s face was long and solemn and the small talk he was making with Shelby Corcoran, the school’s resident activities coordinator, was anything but light hearted. Puck ran off to go sit with Quinn who was nervously biting her nails, and Jo lead us to two seats in the second row. They glanced around the room, obviously looking for some hint as to why we’re all here.

 

I left them to their thoughts and glanced over my shoulder, catching the eyes of a boy I’d never seen before. I have classes with most of the juniors at McKinley, which is what this room is composed of, but I’d never seen the boy with the stormy blue eyes. He lifted his hand slightly to wave at me, a gesture in which I returned. He looked as if he was going to say something to me when Rachel Berry burst through the doors in immediately pulled his attention away. 

 

When Professor Schuester saw her enter he exited his conversation with Shelby and moved to the front of the room, effectively silencing everyone’s conversations. Jo placed their hand on my thigh, in an attempt to calm themself. “We called this meeting because we have important information regarding all of you.” He spoke slowly his voice cracking at the end, he moved over to the computer, placed on the desk to the left of him, and an pulled up an image of a smirking boy in a navy and red blazer. “This is Sebastian Smythe, the leader of Dalton, an underground network of assassins,” He changed the image on the screen, to another smirking boy who looked very similar to the first. “And this is Hunter Clarington the geneticist who discovered the ‘Fountain of Youth’ mutation.They have been collaborating in recent months to create everlasting soldiers. With Smythe’s men and Clarington’s knowledge they are a dangerous duo.” 

 

Shelby stepped up to the front, and gave everyone a tightlipped smile. “You are at this institution to harness your powers and use them for good, and that is what we are asking you to do.”

 

“What do you mean?” Sam asked, despite knowing exactly what she was alluding to.

 

“We’re asking you to save the world.” 

 

A collective gasp circled the room, but the one to break the following silence was Rachel Berry. “I’m in as long as I get to run point.” Everyone rolled their eyes, and Jo signed to me me that she wanted to remove the girl’s vocal chords. 

 

“Ms.Berry, this will be a group effort, there will be no leaders except for me and Ms. Corcoran.” Professor Schuster said causing Rachel to pout. 

 

“This is optional. You will be putting your lives at risk, and we can ask you but we can’t force you.” Quinn, who was tangled in Puck moved from his grasp and ran out of the room, she seemed to be mumbling something but I couldn’t read her lips. Puck gaped and stared at the door, seemingly surprised at her exit. 

 

Professor Schuster glanced around the room before nodding. “I suggest you all get to know each other before your training starts, but don’t stay up too late, you will be moving to a specialized facility in the morning and I expect you all to be well rested. Thank you.” He left quickly after that, and was followed by Shelby who left the key to the mini fridge on the table and wished us a good time. 

 

Puck soon figured out that the fridge was stocked with booze and began distributing it around the room, while Sam and Finn began rearranging the chairs so that everyone could sit in a circle. Jo was completely silent besides me, no snarky signs or eye rolls, they sat unnaturally still. “Jo,” I said quietly. I hate speaking in public, despite years of speech lessons and everyone's assurance that I don’t ‘sound deaf’ I still only speak to Jo and my family back home. “ Jo.” I said their name even louder effectively pulling them from their thoughts. They looked at me with sorrow in their eyes before standing up and grabbing a beer from Puck and signing to me that they’d talk to me about it later. 

 

They took a seat next to Finn and I followed, ending up across from the boy with the blue eyes and Rachel. When everyone had taken their seat Rachel begun to talk. “Everyone should say their name, show us their power and something about themselves!” I think many people grumbled because it was Rachel who suggested the idea, but it wasn’t a bad one, so everyone went along with it. She stood up and smoothed her plaid skirt, which caused the blue eyed boy to crinkle his nose. “I’m Rachel Berry, I was in a glee club before I came here and I can manipulate sound waves.” She opened her mouth wider and apparently made some sort of high pitched or loud sound because everyone was plugging their ears. 

 

Next was blue eyed boy who didn’t stand up but crossed his legs. “I’m Kurt, I really like fashion and I have telekinesis and can read people’s auras.” He smiled gently at the group before moving a cup out of Mercedes’s hand, around the room and then back all without lifting a finger. I smiled brightly at him and he seemed to blush a little, but it could’ve been from the group’s praise.

 

Mike then stood up, “I’m Mike and uh...I’m a dancer with superspeed.” He spoke with his head down, so Jo signed his words for me. This caused Kurt to look at us strangely.  Mike quickly sped around the room before returning to his seat, receiving a comforting hug from Sam. “Hey everyone, My name is Sam, I’m from Kentucky and can like shape shift.” He quickly turned into Finn who looked at him in amazement before he high fived him. Finn looked over at Sam who had yet to return to his own body before speaking. “I’m Finn, I like football and I can walk through walls and stuff.” He demonstrated his ability by letting his hand phase through the chair, causing most people in the room to gasp.

 

Jo stood up and glanced around the room. “I’m Jo, I go by they/them pronouns, my mom is from South Africa and I can teleport.” They suddenly teleported to the other side of the room ‘accidentally’ landing on Brittany’s lap. Puck placed two fingers to his lips and whistled at them and Jo blushed slightly before teleporting back to their seat. Jo has been enamored with Brittany since she helped them with their math homework once, but had never mustered up the courage to ask her out. I was supposed to go next so I just looked over at Jo, who nodded. “This is Blaine, he’s deaf so if you know ASL that’s his prefered communication method. He likes bowties and can manipulate fire.” Kurt smiled at me before signing ‘Hi’. It be nice to know someone other than Jo who knew ASL, especially someone who looks like that. I decided to be slightly cocky, and form a bowtie made of fire above the circle. 

 

The surprised seemed to fade away, allowing Brittany to speak next. “My name’s Brittany, my cat Lord Tubbington is an chain smoker and I’m a healer so whenever he starts to cough I make him better.” Everyone watched her patiently, waiting for her to demonstrate her power but she just smiled at everyone, and seemed to be waiting for the next person to speak. Puck just sighed before starting his own speil. “I’m Puck, I can like fuck with energy and stuff.” Jo rolled their eyes, while Puck let energy flow through his fingers and crack in the open air. Finn and Sam both muttered something in amazement. 

 

Mercedes was last and instead of speaking first, she flicked her hand in Mike’s direction, causing it to snow around him. While this was going on she spoke. “I’m Mercedes, I can control the weather and I love tots!” The circle soon dissolved and everyone broke off into their friend groupings, with Puck leaving to go find Quinn. Sam and Mike were cuddled up in the corner, while Finn talked to Mercedes and Brittany. Jo had gone over to get more beer when she was stopped by Rachel Berry. I was waiting for that conversation to end when Kurt approached me, a altruistic smile on his face. 

 

“Hey.” Kurt signed taking the seat next to me. Up close his eyes had specks of emerald throughout the bright blue of his irises. “I figured I’d come and talk to you since we’ve been making eye contact all day.” 

 

“I’m glad you did.” He smiled at that, a rosy blush creeping up his porcelain cheeks. “So why did you learn ASL?”

 

“My mom lost her hearing when she was young. She made sure that I was completely fluent before she died.”

 

“I’m so sorry.”

 

“Don’t be, she lived a good life.” 

 

“You can read auras too?” I asked him, trying to steer the subject away from his mother’s death, he seemed to be at peace with his reality, but it has to hurt to lose a mother. 

 

“Yeah.” Kurt bit his lip, his cerulean eyes a little worried. “Can I read yours?” I just nodded in response, causing him to smile nervously, before he quickly turned his head, probably towards a noise behind him. I followed his gaze and landed at Rachel who, telling by her lazy movements  was completely and utterly drunk. I tried to read her lips but by the look of horror on Kurt’s face and the smirk that Jo had planted on their face it wasn’t anything good. I was about to ask when Rachel leaned in and kissed me. In shock I heated up, and sent her stumbling backwards with a first degree burn around her mouth.

 

“Sorry Rachel, I didn’t mean to burn you.” Rachel looked as if she didn’t understand and I saw Kurt tell her what I had said. 

 

She muttered something else, which Jo roughly translated into, “You can make it up to me on our date.” To which I, (much too quickly to be considered polite) replied that I was gay. After Kurt translated for her she just nodded and stumbled away from me. 

 

Kurt rose from his spot next to me and glanced over at her, his shoulders heavy and an exasperated look in his eye. He looked back at me and signed “Your aura, it’s pink and yellow.” before leaving with Rachel. Jo sat down next to me smiling a bit more than they should’ve. 

  
“I’m sorry I let Berry kiss you, I just wanted to Kurt to know that you were gay, you can’t really tell when everyone is wearing spandex.” I smiled at them which they interpreted correctly as forgiveness before they started planning how we were going to pack up our room tomorrow. I looked around at the room, these people were now my team, let’s hope tomorrow brings more good than bad.


	2. Dynamics

I’m not sure why, but I woke up to find my best friend sitting on my chest flashing bright lights in my eyes. They wore high waisted black jeans and the crop top I’d gotten them with David Bowie’s face on it, along with a stressed out look on their face, partially hidden by their midnight blue glasses, a color all too similar to the streaks in their hair. I quickly heated up causing them to teleport across the room giving me a harsh glare. “Get the fuck up B.” They signed. Wiping my eyes I saw that everything in our dorm room was gone except for my bedding and an outfit that was picked out by Jo. When they saw where my gaze had landed they teleported into my field of vision. “Those are your tightest pants, I’m sure you want Kurt to be looking at something other than your aura.” 

Rolling my eyes I extracted myself from the bed, where Jo went to work cleaning the remainder of the room. Whenever they clean, something is bothering them, and if we didn’t have to pack up, they would’ve cited spring cleaning as a way to calm their nerves. We’ve shared a room ever since I transferred from Sam’s dorm, he was always too busy making out with Mike or playing video games with Finn, both things I didn’t want to be present for. “We still haven’t had that conversation from yesterday.” Jo bit their lip and set down my pillowcase, they sat down on the bed, patting the spot next to them offering me a place to sit.

“Ronnie went on a mission for Professor Schuester once.” They signed, their face somber. As soon as they signed it I understood their hesitation from last night. Ronnie was Jo’s half-brother. He was the school’s only time traveler and was sent on a solo mission five years ago, he never returned, and Jo was still coping when I met them. I just wrapped my arms around them, after many years of practice, I’ve learned that the best way to comfort Jo is to just hug them until they feel better, it’s not a permanent solution, but it’s the one that works the best.

They extracted themselves from my grasp and had me stand up. “You go get dressed, I’ve gotta finish packing.” I smiled at them and walked over to the bathroom, quickly changing into the clothes they picked out for me. If anything I want to get this day started, when things change you always have to get over the three day hump. Make it through the first three days and your home free. I decided to put a bit of gel in my hair today, I stopped doing it regularly, because I would always sweat it out after training and it’s lower maintenance, but I figured it would be my first official day with the team so I might as well look my best.

Jo entered the bathroom, their movement’s fluid as they reached across the sink to grab their contact case. I’ve always loved seeing them in their contacts, their eyes always seemed a little lighter, the specks of green in their hazel eyes illuminated a little bit more. “Is everything packed?” I signed to her.

“Yeah, everything's over there.” They ran their fingers through their hair, biting their lip in contemplation. “Up or down?”

“Down. Did you carry them over there?”

Jo rolled their eyes while they parted their hair. “Hell no, what’s the point of teleporting if I can’t make life easier.”

I was going to argue with them about how our powers should be used for good, but honestly I didn’t have to carry our boxes across campus to a completely building, so I can’t complain. 

We exited the bathroom to see Quinn sitting on my bed. I was never the best of friends with Quinn, but she dated Jo for two years before she started seeing Puck last year, so I’ve seen a lot of her...in compromising positions. Her head was down and she kept wringing her hands, so I figured she wasn’t here to see me. Jo just gave me a look and I made my way back into the bathroom. It’s not like I could hear their conversation, but it was probably comforting not to have me hanging around while they talked about something seemingly serious. 

I went through the cabinet under the sink, which is where we stored all of the things we weren't using anymore, but still wanted to holds onto. On my side of the cabinet I found all my letters from Cooper before he moved to L.A and stopped responding and a few blankets that my Grandmother knitted me before I entered McKinley. I don’t really know why I keep them in here, maybe it’s just easier since I only get to see them every two years or so. I looked over at Jo’s side, only seeing a lime green teddy bear that I know belonged to Ronnie.

I grabbed all of the items out of the cabinet and left the bathroom, hoping I’d given Jo and Quinn enough time to talk. I found Quinn sobbing into Jo’s shoulder while they just bit their lip. When they noticed I had entered Jo began signing. “She’s pregnant.” They looked conflicted, Quinn had been their girlfriend since we were freshman, so the instinct was probably to help her, but Jo said they’d never forgive her after they teleported in on her sleeping with Puck. They whispered something to Quinn and she just nodded before standing up and leaving the room, giving me a small wave as she crossed the threshold. 

“Are you okay?” I asked them and they just laughed a little bit.

“Yeah, It’s just hard to see her like that, you know? She was my everything once, and now she’s going to be a mother...” Jo’s signs trailed off and they pulled me into a hug, and then signed. “Come on, I don’t want to miss breakfast.” And with that they teleported us across campus.

We were one of the first people to show up at breakfast, the room almost completely empty except for Emma, who informed us that breakfast would be to order, Rachel and Kurt. Jo turned towards me their brow furrowed in distress. “Please don’t make me sit next to Berry just because you’re trying to get into Kurt’s pants.” I just rolled my eyes at them before sitting down at a table adjacent from the other duo, where I could see Kurt over Jo’s shoulder and they couldn’t see Rachel. Jo smiled happily at my seating choice and began signing about whether or not they would still be able to train with Sue if they were on the team, when I saw Rachel rise from the table despite Kurt’s obvious protests. Jo followed my line of sight and cringed when Rachel sat down next to them.

“Blaine.I.Just.Wanted.To.Apologize.For.Last.Night.” Rachel said very slowly judging by the way her lips were moving about as fast as molasses. Kurt’s head was in his hands and Jo looked like they wanted to gut her like a fish, which they could do, and I learned that the hard way. Rachel seemed very pleased with herself that she managed to talk to the deaf kid like she should get some award or something.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Jo said turning towards Rachel, their eyebrows (waxed to perfection, thanks to me) raised in question. 

“I’m just making sure that he understands me, you know it’s so hard to have a disability, I have a friend who’s in a wheelchair, so I totally understand his hardship.” She smiled at Jo, in a patronizing way that would probably lead to her getting mauled by the 4’9 teleporter. 

Their eyes lit up like they were preparing for a fight, so I signed their name in an attempt to calm them. Jo gripped the table like it was the only thing keeping them steady, and honestly it was, until Rachel opened up her mouth again. “So do you want to hear, because I’m sure Brittany can fix you.” When Jo jumped across the table and knocked her to the floor, I didn’t even try to stop them. 

Kurt kept alternating between calling out Jo and Rachel’s names while Jo was bloodying Rachel’s face. They had their hand wrapped around her throat, keeping her from using her powers, and if this wasn’t assault, I would compliment them on their technique. They’d managed to neutralize their mark while also maintaining the upper hand, Sue would be proud, and that’s exactly how she looked when she entered the room, followed by Professor Schuster and five teenagers with varied looks of shock on their faces. 

“Jongikhaya, that’s enough.” Sue said after a pregnant moment where the only thing that could be heard was the sound of Jo breaking Rachel’s nose. They backed away slowly, still glaring at Rachel. Brittany ran over to Rachel and began healing her injuries, starting with the bruises around her neck. “You cannot attack your teammates, even if they look like gnomes.” Sue remarked, giving Jo a stern look.

“Why did you even attack her?” Sam asked his eyes wide in disbelief. 

“She insinuated that Blaine needed to be fixed because he’s deaf.” Jo replied through gritted teeth. The only reason I knew what they were saying was because Kurt had caught onto the fact that I couldn’t read their lips and had begun translating. His face was unreadable, and I didn’t know whether or not he was pissed at Rachel or Jo or both.

“But Blaine is a unicorn, he doesn’t need to be fixed!” Brittany said sadly, removing her hands from Rachel, which caused the injured girl to groan loudly. She still didn’t put her hands back, instead giving me a pouty look and giving Jo one of admiration. 

Sue glanced between all of us, but her gaze landed on Rachel. “Brittany, finish patching her up.” She leaned in really close and stared Rachel down, who whimpered under her gaze. “Say anything else about Hot Stuff over there and I will let Jongikhaya finish what they started.” Sue stalked off, pushing Finn into a nearby table that he phased through, only to hit his head on the linoleum floors. 

Jo, who was shaking in anger sat down next to me and tangled our bodies together, their face placed firmly in the crook of my neck. I could feel Kurt’s eyes on us, but ignored them in favor of watching Brittany heal Rachel. Her eyes were completely black, but her face was serene and focused as Rachel’s wounds slowly healed. Secretly, I hope her nose never heals, but I know that Brittany who seemed upset at Rachel’s words wouldn’t leave her broken. When she finished, Rachel sat up slowly and set her eyes on Professor Schuester who had spent his time in the room fiddling with his cellphone.

“I want her off this team!” She screeched, her mouth open so wide that a small pig could fit inside of it. Will’s eyes widened at her outburst and Jo immediately sat up, glaring daggers at Rachel. They hadn’t been referred to as her since they nearly castrated a guy freshman year for calling them a ‘hot girl with a fat ass’. Jo gripped my shirt in their hair in an attempt not to jump across the table and undo all of Brittany’s work.

“They.” Mike spoke up from the corner of the room, his hand firmly tangled in Sam’s. Everyone looked over at him, the tension in the room thick. “If you’re going to be rude, at least use their correct pronouns.” Rachel just scoffed at Mike while Jo sent him a thankful smile, which he returned. 

“I want  _ them  _ off the team! Immediately!” 

“Jo is an asset to the mission and we need them just like we need you.” Professor Schuster said in an attempt to diffuse the situation. He just received a huff from the girl before she stormed out of the room. Everyone was silent for a moment before Professor Schuster cleared his throat. “I trust all of you have moved into your rooms?” Everyone nodded and he pulled his phone out of his front pocket. “You will be assigned a mentor that will guide you through your training. Each mentor will have at the most two students, and will spend half the day with you.” 

“I will be taking Sam and Finn, Shelby will be mentoring Puck and Mike while Holly will take Blaine and Mercedes, Emma will take Brittany, Isabelle has Rachel and Kurt, and Sue has Jo.” They smiled against my collarbone at the fact that they could continue training with Sue. I don’t know much about Holly Holiday but Jo told me a story once about how she flooded the English room one year using her powers. I understand why Will would pair Mercedes and I with Holly, but I’ve never liked being around water, because against fire, it always wins. 

Jo detangled themself from my limbs and made off to find Sue when Mercedes approached me. “You can take the morning spot, I still have to finish moving into my room, if I don’t Brittany will cover all of the walls in rainbow stickers.” Mercedes spoke slow enough that I could read her lips, but not slow enough that Jo’s best friend senses would tingle and come back for round two. I nodded at her and she drifted off in Finn’s direction to check on the foolish boy whose head was still aching from where it collided with the ground.

I walked over to Professor Schuster and when I signed hello he looked puzzled before typing out a greeting on his phone. I asked him where Holly’s room was and he replied with a fond smile citing that I could find her by the lake southwest of the facility. I began walking towards the lake, a place I could find but rarely ever went. I’ve been avoiding it ever since Jo had tried to teach me to swim, but had to save me from a near drowning. When I arrived she turned around to greet me with the sign for hello.”

“Hey Blaine! It’s nice to meet you!” Her ASL was slow, but at least she was trying. “I know I’m R-U-S-T-Y,” She finger spelled, “But I’m better at it than those other bozos.” I like her already. “Come on, show me what you can do!” I immediately heated up and shot a stream of fire which hit a nearby tree, lighting it on fire causing Holly to put it out before prompting me to continue. I used my fire stream to propel me upward, hovering above ground while the pavement. Holly gave me a smirk that was eerily similar to the one given to me by Jo when they wanted to take me swimming. “Let’s see how you do with a little water.”

_ Six months later _

The nightmares didn’t occur every night, not anymore. After it had first happened he spent every night wrapped up in either Jo or Kurt bawling his eyes out, but now he had a few nights of solace. The training helped, Holly had him working on his powers everyday now, always inside, he couldn’t take training by the lake anymore, it reminded him of everything he wanted to forget. Jo signed to him that they were going to see Quinn, asking him if he wanted to join them. He declined, knowing that Quinn cherished those little visits from her ex-datemate and he didn’t want to intrude. He laid his head back onto his pillow, rolling the dice on where his night would take him.


	3. Smoke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a time jump of four months in this chapter.

 

He’d never seen them like this. What little time they didn’t spend with him or Quinn they spent cleaning and fighting. He knew it was hard to cope for them. It was hard to cope for everyone, but the extended break Professor Schuster put them on did nothing to help his team’s sanity, his friend’s sanity. He found them fighting a new recruit, an inexperienced one no less, destroying them with the ferocity that they’d had when fighting Hunter. He called out their name, and they stopped in their tracks, quickly dismissing the other student. Their eyes were so filled with pain and loss that as soon as he pulled them into a hug, they began sobbing harder than he’d ever seen them. As he held Jo he knew, if their team didn’t get help now, they wouldn’t make it out of McKinley alive.

 

  
_Two Months Earlier_

 

  
Holly’s hands were placed firmly on her hips, her mouth pressed into a disappointed frown. “Do it again.” She signed. It was rare when they would train inside, but what they’d been working on recently was not something that could be done by the lake.

 

  
“We’ve been at this for months already!” I was hot, and not just because of my powers. We’d been training together for four months and attempting to get me too fire bomb six thousand square feet for two of those, but so far we’ve only managed three thousand feet and it was the most aggravating experience of my life.

 

  
Holly sensed my anger and let a wave of water was over the room. “Go calm down, I’ve got to work with Mercedes.” Even her signs were exasperated and I quickly left the room, hoping Mercedes has more luck with her training.

 

  
I passed her in the hallway, but after about two weeks of seeing me storm out with smoke coming out of my ears she just gave me a small smile. A tap on the shoulder caused me to turn around, facing Kurt’s clear blue eyes. “Why is your aura white?” He signed his face twisted in deep concern. We haven’t had much time to talk but when we did it was usually about plays or the team, never about how we were feeling. I saved those conversations for Jo, and Kurt probably did the same for Rachel.

 

  
“White?”

 

  
“Anger, Exasperation, Irritation.” Kurt listed off, grabbing my hand pulling me towards his room. When I figured out where he was taking us I pulled back. “She’s with Isabelle right now.” We continued walking and when we reached the room I was dazzled by it’s design. It was the same grey as the rest of the rooms, except for mine because Jo stole many cans of light blue paint from the hardware store back in their hometown of Denver, because they could only teleport to places they’d seen before and they used to go there with Ronnie before they moved to Lima to attend McKinley. Kurt’s walls were instead covered in Broadway posters and pages from fashion magazines.

 

  
“Your room is really nice.” I signed only getting a blush in response.

 

  
He motioned for me to sit on his bed. “Why are you so upset?”

 

  
“I can’t manage to set fire to a certain area and Holly keeps riding me and...I’m so tired.”

 

  
“I’m sorry, do you think you can?”

 

  
“I have the ability to, but I just can’t focus, it’s like I...like I can’t get in the right head space, you know?” Kurt nodded understandingly.

 

  
“Have you tried meditating? Fighting? Yoga?” He listed. “I sing, whenever I need to focus, I just sing a little to try and remind myself that I’m in control of my powers.”

 

  
“I wish I could hear you sing.”

 

  
Kurt looked sad, and took one of my hands in his, and used the other to sign. “I feel the same way.” He leaned in and pressed his forehead to mine. I could feel his breath, as he looked into my eyes asking for permission.

 

  
Kurt leaned in and pressed his lips to mine, and suddenly everything changed. It was as if the world had become a watercolor painting the room swirling in pinks and yellows, purples and blues were radiating from Kurt, it was as if I was seeing the world for the first time. Kurt pulled back suddenly his attention moved towards someone at the door, and that person just happened to be Quinn.

 

  
She had her hand placed over her growing belly and Puck’s arm snaked protectively around her waist. “Kurt, did you finish letting out my uniforms?” She asked while Puck looked between the two of us. Kurt pointed over to a large green bag that set on a table across from his room. Quinn stretched her arm across the room smirking at us before exiting the room with Puck. Jo had been spending a lot of time with Quinn, when they weren’t flirting Brittany or training with Sue. I think they felt bad for Quinn, despite the fact that she’d cheated on them. Jo still cared for her. But they also knew she was with Puck, the guy she was having a child with, but offered their support anyway.

 

  
After a few moments, I turned towards Kurt. “We kissed. And I saw your aura.”

 

  
“It happens. Not that I’m promiscuous or anything, I just had too many drinks once and Rachel...” Kurt dropped his head in his hands, a blush covering his face. I touched his hand, slowly pulling it away from his face and pulled him into another earth shattering kiss.

 

  
***

 

  
“B, if I asked you not to be in our room for a few hours after dinner would you be okay?” Jo signed to me running their fingers through their hair which was curling from their latest training session with Sue. They were wearing their binder today and baggy jeans, the rest of their clothing stuffed haphazardly into a duffel bag. Jo normally didn’t present masculine, normally wearing feminine or androgynous clothing but today when I woke up they were wearing my red button down and looking for their STP.

 

  
“I’ll probably just hang out with Kurt.” Jo smiled. They’d been very excited when they found out I kissed Kurt and I had to stop them from teleporting to his room and interrogating him, but honestly they probably did anyway. “But why do you need me gone?”

 

  
“I asked Brittany out tonight.” The smile on their face grew as they spoke. Jo didn’t sign this but they said it out loud like they couldn’t believe it was happening. I pulled them into hug as we entered the sparring room where the team was congregated for a meeting.

 

  
Sam was sitting in Mike’s lap and Finn was engaging them in a conversation about football, while Kurt and Puck were talking about Quinn in the corner. Rachel, Mercedes and Brittany came in behind us, trailing a frazzled looking Professor Schuster. “Now I know we had group training scheduled for this afternoon, but we just got word that Smythe and Clarington have been spotted together in Staten Island recruiting people for their army. We’re going to take a trip down there tonight, and try to stop them before they release their soldiers on the general public. Start packing, we leave at 7.”  

 

  
Professor Schuster left the room after his rushed announcement, and everyone began murmuring. “You might want to get to that date before seven.” I signed to Jo, as they looked over their shoulder at Brittany who was giggling next to Mercedes.

 

  
“Pack for me?” They signed. I just nodded and they drifted off towards Brittany, a blush on their cheeks and a timidness in their step. Kurt glanced over at me with a flirty smile and returned to his conversation with Puck.

 

  
I felt someone tap me on the back, and when I turned around it was none other than Rachel Berry. “I know your---fight me again---talking to you---dating Kurt?” Was all I could gather from reading her lips since she made no effort to slow down or learn any sign language. At least she’s not talking to me like a child. I just nodded but that just seemed to upset her. She called Kurt over and shot me a look of apology and apprehension.

 

  
She said something to him which he translated into. “If you hurt my friend I’ll hurt you.” and “You won’t have your friend to fight for you.”

 

  
In which I responded that “I can fight my own battles.” Kurt looked uneasy throughout the exchange and quickly dragged Rachel off under the pretense of packing. Sometimes I wonder how he deals with her, but I remember plenty of people asking me how I deal with Jo. I waited until they made it down the hallway to go to my room, so I wasn’t invading their privacy. When I got to my room I quickly gathered all of Jo’s gear and a few outfits that would work no matter how they were presenting during our time in New York. I’ve always wanted to live there, be on Broadway, but I’m not sure what they would do with a deaf performer, let alone one who could set the stage on fire.

 

  
I was pulling all of our bags out of the room when suddenly one of Jo’s duffels was pulled from my hand and began hovering in front of me. “Need some help?” Kurt signed, obviously the one behind the floating bag. His luggage was doing the same thing, suspended in the air while a dazzling smile crossed his lips. We began walking towards the plane all of our things trailing behind us like obedient puppies.

 

  
“Have you ever flown before?” I asked him but he shook his head.

 

  
“My Dad is afraid of planes, won’t let anyone in my family get on one anymore.” Kurt smiled sadly at that and I wish I had Isabelle’s powers because I could read his mind and ask him what’s upsetting him.

 

  
“If you want I’ll sit next to you.”

 

  
“No that’s okay, I promised Puck I’d help him plan a shower for Quinn. Maybe on the flight back.” Kurt looked apologetic and placed a fleeting kiss to my lips before walking away, all of our bags following behind him.

 

  
Jo teleported in front of me a smile on their face. “How’d it go with Brittany?”

 

  
“B, she’s fucking amazing! I didn’t understand when she asked me why I was two kinds of dolphins, but I think she was just asking why I’m genderfluid and B, if you weren’t with Kurt, I’d tell you to kiss Britt because that girl has a fucking talented tongue!” This was the most excited I’ve seen Jo since they first slept with Quinn. They pulled me into a hug before teleporting us into the plane where Professor Schuster was discussing the flight details with Sue, who by the looks of it was also the pilot. Jo continued to rattle on about how amazing they thought Brittany was when everyone else began boarding.

 

  
“Alright losers, strap in and hold on tight!” Sue called from the cockpit, the plane already taking off. Finn looked as if he was going to be sick when his seat belt phased through his hand. I’d talked to Sam earlier this week and he’d said Finn wasn’t controlling his phasing very well unless under extreme stress, like conversations with Rachel Berry. I have no idea why he likes her, but that’s his prerogative.

 

  
“We’re right outside of Dalton, Smythe and Clarington’s home base.” Will announced over the loudspeaker, which was conveniently posted onto an electronic board just unlike Sue’s earlier comments. His words woke most of the team except for Puck who was currently snoring on Kurt’s shoulder while he read the latest issue of Vogue. Jo, who’d been up the entire flight writing in their journal looked up at me with a smile.

 

  
“How are you holding up B?”

 

  
“Fine, I just can’t wait to land.” And land we did.

 

  
The plane jerked suddenly to the left, and red lights began flashing throughout the cabin. Jo quickly grabbed my hand, fear flashing across their face. The plane jerked towards the right again and smoke filled the plane. Everyone was shouting and crying, when one of the plane doors opened. I could make out Puck creating an energy shield through the smoke and Sam shouting for everyone to jump before shape shifting into a hawk and flying out of the plane.

 

  
I pulled Jo from their seat and we moved towards the plane’s opening, when the plane took another hit, jerking us back. We all quickly recovered and I glanced at Kurt who was using his powers to move Mike, by force from the plane.

 

  
As we jumped from the aircraft, Jo’s petrified hazel eyes were the only thing I saw other than fire.

 

 


	4. Bloodletting

The only way I could describe the scene was a massacre. Bodies were spread across the scorched land and only a few were still standing. It hadn’t started out like this. Everyone had evacuated the plane, some less gracefully than others to be met with Smythe and Clarington’s army, who despite previous knowledge was fully formed and expecting us. Every soldier was dressed in red and navy uniforms with absent looks in their eyes and scowls on their faces.

 

The team immediately fractured off into groups, Brittany, Finn and Mercedes went off to go find Hunter and Sebastian while Jo lead the rest of the team into battle. I understand how extraordinary it is for someone to have powers, but to see them in action for things other than moving luggage is something completely different. Jo had taken on four of the soldiers, teleporting combined with their superior fighting skills was something other worldly. Sam had shifted into a black bear and was currently fighting with one very scared soldier. Mike and Puck had teamed up, with Mike confusing them and Puck allowing lightning to strike them while they were dizzy from trying to follow Mike. Kurt was lifting the soldiers and knocking them into each other, while Rachel just screamed at them until they cried. 

 

I’ve never fought like this before, and part of me feels as if this is too much, but the feeling of using my powers on something other than non-flammable simulators is invigorating. Using my fire to hover over the scene, taking out the stragglers who were trying to take out my team from their blind spots. My convenient spot above the battle allowed for me to see the incoming reinforcements. I returned back to the ground and alerted Jo of the impending carnage and as soon as I saw the determined look in their eye I knew what I had to do. 

 

Jo began to back the soldiers into an remote area and the rest of the team followed suit, moving the soldiers closer towards the oncoming ones. Soon enough the entire army was packed into a four thousand foot area. Taking a deep breath I moved towards the center of the area. I thought of Kurt’s kisses and Jo’s smile. I thought of my Grandmother’s blankets and my brother’s letters before igniting.

 

The entire area was suddenly ablaze, all of the soldiers crying out in the aftermath. Puck is standing off to the side holding most of the team in his forcefield. Jo is halfway across the field, narrowly missing the blast radius. I turned around, surprised to see Finn and Mercedes surveying the wreckage. My eyes strain to look for Britt when I felt my knees give out. I slumped into someone’s arms, my body weak from the exertion. 

 

I looked up to see Sebastian Smythe holding me up, a smirk etched across his face. “Grab mohawk, we’ve got work to do!”  He shouted at one of the surviving soldiers who quickly grabbed Puck. Sebastian pulled something from his pocket and threw it out in the field, a gas quickly filling the area. I felt him dragging me off as everything went black.

 

***

 

The first night I dreamed of Jo. They were dressed in blue sweatpants, begging me to help them with a new fighting technique Sue had taught them. It was like an odd case of deja vu. It was familiar. They told me they’d taken me down too easy and pulled me up with a kind hand, when I looked into Jo’s eyes they were anything but. Their irises weren’t their normal caramelized hazel, but a harsh green that resembled seaweed. 

 

I had that same dream until I could recognize who the green eyes belonged to, Sebastian Smythe. Those eyes had haunted my days and nights for ten days and I was slowly losing my resolve. Hunter and Sebastian had kept me, alongside Puck and Brittany in a small shack that was near a lake. Every day they’d poked and prodded us trying to get information about the McKinley school and it’s students. They’d waterboarded me and Puck and made deep cuts in Brittany’s arms and legs, ones that had started to become infected from their exposure to the harsh and dirty air. 

On the eleventh day I woke up to Sebastian's leering. I was untied from my chair but I felt weak, most likely from the drugs they pumped into our food. When I awoke Sebastian called for three soldiers who hoisted us up and carried us out to the lake by the hut. The look on Sebastian’s face made sure that we knew he didn’t bring us out here for the fresh air. “Come on killer, we’re about to have some fun.” He said, his words directed towards me. 

 

We were all lined up by the bank when Hunter appeared next to Sebastian. He has the same powers as Jo, but he doesn’t seem as strong as them. He looked at us in distaste. He hadn’t gotten one word out of us. Brittany had been reduced to whimpers and cries and Puck had begun ‘shorting out’ for lack of a better phrase. Every couple of hours he’d start having a seizure, but no one could touch him. A soldier had lost her hand trying to calm him down. I got lucky though. I only had to deal with nightmares, but my fire was still bright and Hunter sensed that. 

 

“If you don’t tell me something about your little Professor, one of your friends won’t make it out alive.” Hunter had begun signing to me after he figured out that I was deaf. He wouldn’t accept my refusal to talk though. He thought it was stubbornness. 

 

None of us know much about Professor Schuester, but they seem so adamant that we do. I signed to him that I didn’t know anything but he just sighed. “You know, I really hope your silence is worth it.” He motioned for one of the soldiers to grab Puck who was struggling in their grasp. His face was submerged in the water, his arms were flailing and he activated his powers, and started seizing in the water. The soldier pushed him into the lake and he jerked around, the electricity crackled in the air as Puck drowned. When he stopped moving, his body was laid face down in the water, as he floated lifelessly in the lake.

 

***

(Jo’s point of view)

 

Sixteen fucking days. It’s been sixteen days and B is still out there, probably being injected with poison by some fucking psychopaths.The only thing that breaks through my fog of worry for Blaine are thoughts of Brittany and my worry for Quinn. She got one of the lower levels to teleport her to New York and she’s spent every night wrapped up in his leather jacket and my arms. Sue said her baby can’t take the stress of being out here during our sessions. She wants me to send Quinn back home, but right now I need her almost as much as she needs me. 

 

What’s worse than part of our team being kidnapped is the part of the team that hasn’t been kidnapped. Rachel has been working my last nerve with all the ‘she’ and the ableist bullshit she keeps spewing about Blaine. She said that he’s least likely to make it out since he’s deaf. If we didn’t need all the manpower to rescue him she'd be dead right now. We’re all stuffed into a small meeting room in the hotel Will rented for us backs hunched over the New York State map. We pinpointed their location to right outside of Buffalo on a small farm located near an private lake. They were located due to a surge of energy that was detected in the area five days ago which gave Quinn some much needed hope. But we’ve yet to figure out what course of action we want to take to rescue them.

 

“We should just bust through the front door!” Rachel screeched. I’m trying not to slice her throat open with the underwire of my bra. 

 

“No! We should go through the roof!” Sam called probably because he wants to fly through a roof.

 

“Hey assholes! We can’t just burst through! We’ve got to take them by surprise. If I teleport Kurt into the farmhouse with me, we can have Finn and Mike phase through the side door, Sam through the roof and then Rachel and Mercedes keep watch on the outside.” I shouted, and halfway through my speil everyone became silent.

 

“Jo, that’s a really good idea.” Mike said from his customary place in Sam’s arms.

Will looked up from his phone. “Do it. Jo you take point. We’ll go in tonight.” He left the room, presumably to call Emma in just incase Britt isn’t strong enough to help heal Puck and Blaine. We planned where everyone would be stationed and everyone left the room except Kurt.  

 

“I’ve been working on something for you, but you only get it if you don’t bring me into the farmhouse with you.” He looked timid as he pulled a green bag from the corner of the room. 

 

“You don’t have to bribe me to change positions, although I would like an explanation.”

 

“I don’t think I can handle seeing him broken or dead. I rather just keep watch with Rachel and Mercedes.”

 

I just nodded before glancing at the map. “You can keep watch and I’ll bring Mercedes in with me.” He smiled gratefully and pushed the bag towards me. In the bag was a pair of blue sweatpants and a crop top that were made out of the same material everyone’s protective suits are. 

 

“I figured that was more your style.” I thanked him for the outfit multiple times before he left and glanced out at the map. Tomorrow would be the day we save the rest of our team

 

***

 

“Berry shut up about your fucking position.” I growled at the girl stopping her vapid complaining. Tensions were running high and if I wouldn’t ruin my new suit I’d stuff it in her mouth. I tried to focus my mind on the task at hand, not at what I wanted to do to Rachel, or what I wanted to do to Quinn. Before we left she pulled me into a tender kiss like the ones we had before everything happened. I want to get rid of the memories of her lips on mine and the mission is the perfect way to distract myself from that. We landed a few miles away from the farmhouse and I could clearly see the lake. I sent Rachel and Kurt to go keep watch by the lake, just out of sight from the nearest soldier. I sent the rest of the team to their posts and latched onto Mercedes before teleporting into the farm house. 

 

We ended in the dusty cabin facing an whimpering Brittany and an drained B. They were looking at an angry Hunter who was ranting and raving about Will, but I was less concerned about the madman, and more about my friends. The bags under their eyes were heavy and Britt looked as if  she was a shell of her former self. Blaine on the other hand spotted us and signed to me from where his hands were tied that Hunter could teleport. I looked to Mercedes when a voice broke through my haze. “What do we have here?”

 

The man I identified as Sebastian Smythe stood across the room and smirked at us. I quickly glanced at Mercedes and back to Sebastian before yelling into the earpiece the stupid code Will had come up with if we need back up. “New Directions!” 

 

Mercedes trapped Sebastian in a hail storm and Sam flew down from the room and made quick work of Blaine and Britt’s ties. I jumped on Hunter, quickly teleporting us outside of the room and outside the farm house by the plane. He’s a skilled fighter, I knew that from Will’s file on him, but he’s no match for me. We were tangled in quick maneuvers and jumps. I landed a few quick hits to his abdomen and he had yet to get me in a tight stop until he teleported us to the top of the empire state building catching me against the bars. 

 

I wish I had time to appreciate the view, but one day I’ll come back up here with Blaine. Right now I’ll work on defeating Hunter. He had his forearm pressing me to the edge, but a quick jump onto his back and I had him back by the farm house with my legs keeping him plastered to the ground and my hands wrapped around his neck. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, using a move Sue only taught me for dire situations. I moved my hands and a loud crack was heard all around the farm when the light left Hunter’s eyes.


End file.
